Girl of Black Holes and Stars
by Pygmy Puff of Doom
Summary: Voldemort is about to be struck by the killing curse in the final battle when, just like the cliché, his life flashes before his eyes, revealing his real reason behind the war, and it all comes down to a girl he loved. Includes character deaths.


**Girl of Black Holes and Stars **

**by PPOD**

**Rating: **T (I think, I doubt it could pass for M, but I am really bad at rating)

**Summary**: First Person. Voldemort is about to be struck by the killing curse in the final battle when, just like the cliché, his life flashes before his eyes, revealing the real reason behind the war, and it all comes down to a girl he loved.

**Disclaimer: **I am not J.K.R. I do not own Harry Potter, the only thing that is mine is the strange plot twist, and Lina. Please don't sue me; I'm just a poor student.

**A/N: **My OC character is named Evelina Blackburn. To make some sense of why I chose that name, Blackburn was somewhat random. I searched names that had a meaning similar to black (trying to make a reference to black holes) and found Blackburn, which my sources say is an English name meaning black brook. I searched for names that meant light and came up with Evelina, which when taken from Celtic/Irish origins means light, but when taken from English origins means life. (Both meanings are important to the story). Her nickname in this story is Lina (LEE-na) which my source says, from Greek and Italian origins means light, from Arabic origins means tender or delicate.

There is a timeline at the end of this fic for clarification. I tried to make it as accurate as possible. Some of the dates are my own calculations based off of the limited amount of information given to us by Rowling in the books (the only major thing that irritated me about the book, that didn't involve the plot, was that the timeline, especially involving Albus/Grindelwald, did not make sense) and I had a lot of help from the HPLexicon.

* * *

'It's over. You lose,' was the first thing to cross my rather shocked mind. I'm sure that the sheeple of the wizarding world, all of them, both my followers and my enemies, would have laughed at my facial expression if the current circumstances allowed for that kind of action. The only one who would not have laughed at my expression of shock mixed with a little horror would have been Potter. But he was never quite a sheeple. It's rather ironic actually, well; there are multiple ironies in this situation. The first being that I was thrown into a spirit state after my killing curse rebounded off of the baby Potter, and now, I am going to be killed permanently by another one of _my_ killing curses. I should have come up with something more original; but they say hindsight is always twenty/twenty. Speaking of hindsight, that reminds me that there was more irony to my present predicament. I'm sure it must be some weird quirk of fates to screwing with my life, because this is the clearest I have thought in years. Yes, have a good laugh while you can fate, you're the only one laughing for now. I know that as soon as I die there will be celebrations and laughter, the only one who would not laugh in joy at my demise is Potter, but again he is different than them all. No, he will be in mourning of what could have been, what _I _could have been.

He reminds me so much of her. I haven't thought about her in years, and I should have. Forgetting her is by far my worst sin, and I have committed many. Perhaps that is why I hated Potter so much. I say hated because, somehow, I can't hate him any longer, but that is a moot point. He reminds me of what I had unintentionally forgotten. I hated him because, even if it was subconsciously, he reminded me that I had broken, and was continuing to break my promise to her. But I'm sure another part of my hatred was that he survived what should have killed him, and she was killed by what shouldn't have killed her.

What they say is true; when you are about to die your entire life does flash before your eyes. I would know, because this is what is happening to me. A killing curse, my killing curse is hurtling towards me, but it is like time has slowed, and I am reminded of all that I have done wrong, and right at a time when it is too late to change. But I realize that it all comes back to the girl I forgot, the girl that was everything, the girl of black holes and stars.

I know that I was a cruel child, and adult, but I will address that later. I was a cruel child with an over inflated opinion of himself. Aside from the building of my general character, which my caretakers failed at immensely, my years at the orphanage were unimportant, until I was told by Dumbledore of the wizarding world. He was to escort me to Diagon Alley. I insisted upon going alone, partially because I didn't want to depend on anyone else, partially because I didn't want anyone to be there as a witness if this turned out to be some cruel joke.

But it wasn't, and that was how it began.

I went to Gringott's to get money from the schools fund and proceeded to go shopping. I had smartly decided to save the book store for last, opting to begin with a wand. I would never have admitted it, but Ollivander disturbed me slightly, it was like he saw too much of you, and at the same time not quite enough. But I was pleased with my wand, more than pleased really with my thirteen inch, yew with a phoenix feather core. It was my wand, it felt right, it felt _powerful_, and it was mine. In short, there was no finer wand in the universe. I can see the irony in the situation now that I look back at it. My wand had a phoenix feather as a core, phoenix's are reborn from their ashes so they do not die, I took measures to make myself as immortal as possible, I even survived a rebounded killing curse and was effectively reborn from my ashes. It is rather funny that Potter should get my wands brother, for he too is like a phoenix, he should have died and yet he lives, and lives. What's this, the second, no, the _third_ killing curse I have sent at him that he has, and will, survive. But that isn't the point, and I only have so much time to reminisce before my demise.

I bought potions ingredients, and school robes, I would have bought new clothes if I had money to buy more than just school things, and second hand ones at that. Then I went to buy books. More than anything did I wish I had more money at that time, they were the ones who threw me into this mess without any instructions. I wanted to prepare myself damn it. I made sure to find my books for school before browsing, even though I had no money. It was then a girl that I hadn't noticed before in the section labeled _wizarding ethics and cultures around the world, _bit of a long label if you ask me, but it got the point across. I didn't pay her any mind as I began looking for a good quality book on wizarding culture that was short enough for me to read in the store without attracting attention. It took minutes before I realized I was being watched. At first I thought it was the owner, but the only person around was the girl. I have to admit that she was good at watching people, it was one of her many talents, one that we shared more than one joke over throughout the years. She had the ability to focus on a book (and actually read it) while at the same time observing someone in her peripheral vision. I continued to search for a decent book while keeping pretending that she wasn't there, which I'm sure she found amusing. Suddenly she picked up two copies of a book and another copy of second copy of one she was already carrying. That act had me questioning her sanity, but I thought she was gone and I wouldn't have to deal with her again.

But suddenly she was there, standing in front of me. I tried to hide my surprise at her sudden appearance, and know that I failed miserably. She smirked a bit before handing me two books, one of each of the two she had gotten second copies of and said, "One is called _Wizarding Culture: Etiquette for Every Occasion_ the other is a comprehensive history of Wizarding Britain. They're the best ones, trust me, I've been here for hours searching." With that she started to walk around me toward the door, but before she could get very far I grabbed her arm and asked, "Why?" She just smiled mysteriously while extracting her arm from my grasp and answered on her way towards the door, "Because we're in the same position. We were both thrown into this with absolutely no clue about anything. We have to prepare somehow." To say I was surprised to run into someone whose opinion seemed to mirror my own would be an understatement.

It wasn't till later that I realized that I never got a good look at her face. I didn't catch her name either. Not that it bothered me much, the only time I thought of her after the book store was when I began reading the books she had given me.

By the time I arrived at the King's Cross station I had all but forgotten the strange girl in the book store. This seems to be a repetitive mistake of mine. But the station was surprising. I found the platform ok. It's hard not to when there are people disappearing into a barrier. I was somewhat early, so finding an empty compartment was not difficult. I changed into my school robes immediately; I had no love for muggles, but I would not go so far as to say that I hated them, yet. My compartment quickly filled with other new students that I couldn't help but feel slight distain for, though I was polite if a little bit cool. The etiquette undoubtedly helped fix my position amongst the pureblooded children conversing around me. In fact, they seemed quite intimidated by me, or perhaps they were unconsciously weary of my power, because even then I had an aura that was obviously more powerful than them. That combined with my frosty manners prevented any questions when it became obvious that I did not have a pureblood name. Despite their childish antics and arrogant attitudes I allowed them to remain. If wanted to increase my status in this society the best way to begin would be to 'befriend' those of already high standing. They quickly gave me a headache, simply because they were boring and predictable, they were average, but they were useful, and so their remained.

The castle was beautiful of course. To the others it was awe inspiring, to me it just felt like I was being welcomed home. And then there was the sorting. I thought that a singing hat was rather silly, and apparently someone else did to, because as soon as it started the girl behind me managed a delicate, snort, (there is a first time for everything, and apparently there are some people who can snort with grace). It was so quiet I wasn't sure I even heard it, and I'm sure no one else did. Silently I agreed with the mystery girl's assessment.

Throughout the hats song I came to the conclusion that there was only one house I could possibly go into. Hufflepuff seemed weak, who needs friends, Gryffindor seemed foolish and uncivilized, there was no way I would make it into Ravenclaw when my attitude on knowledge was to ask where it could get me.

The sorting began with an Abbott in Hufflepuff followed by Avery into Slytherin. Then the girl behind me who snorted walked to the hat when 'Blackburn, Evelina' was called. I got the strange feeling as she brushed past me to get to the hat that I had met this Blackburn before, but I quickly shrugged it off as she was sorted into Slytherin. The sorting proceeded until,

"Riddle, Tom."

This was almost immediately followed by,

"Slytherin."

And so first year began. I quickly became friendly with the other students in my house, in all years. I was respected by them for my obvious knowledge and skill, even if I was just a first year. I spent most of my free time in the library researching, trying to find out anything about my family history. I never once noticed that among my followers, because that was what they were, a certain Blackburn was missing from them. In fact, I don't recall seeing her even once throughout that year. She was never with any of our housemates, or anyone from the other houses either.

Over the course of first and second year I discovered my mother's side of the family and their relation to Salazar Slytherin, which was definitely the only bit of good news, because I still could not find my father's name and could only conclude that he was either muggleborn or a muggle. There was no indication that he was dead, and for that I hated him; it was not the first time I had wished to kill someone, though he is the first person on my rather long list of deaths I caused. I thought during my second year that I hated muggles after spending so long in the orphanage and in all probability having a father who was one. I was wrong. I disliked muggles immensely, but the hatred would come later. Aside from discovering a majority of my heritage, I spent time forming alliances and gaining the devotion of my classmates. You can't lead without followers, no matter how irritating they are. They tried to be my friends, but I couldn't stand them. They were so mediocre in their abilities, and their personalities consisted of undeserved arrogance. They were incredibly boring, and all of them were the same.

It wasn't until third year that I noticed Evelina Blackbird. I don't know how I hadn't noticed her until then because normally I size up my competition immediately, but somehow she had slipped past my notice while almost tying with me for highest grades of the year. I'd like to say that we finally noticed each other and it was the start of a beautiful relationship, but I would be lying. Because there was no 'We' noticing each other, it was I finally acknowledging her existence and her having observed me (and everyone else) for the past two years. She knew more about me than I about her, and I didn't like it. The second reason I would be lying is because it was not the start of a beautiful relationship, neither of us were very . . . friendly. In fact, we could be downright hostile.

But it started just after the welcoming feast. Slughorn called the both of us to his office, I was a little confused about why I was being called to his office with a younger second, maybe first year that I didn't know. I was even more confused when Slughorn handed the both of us our schedules and time turners because we were both taking every class available. Why would a second year be taking third year classes? But the Slughorn said in an unusually serious manner, "Tom, Evelina. You are to use those time turners to get to your classes. They are not to be used for any other purpose. You are going to be going to the same classes at the same time and are to use your time turners at the same time as each other to avoid problems. The only reason the two of you have this opportunity is because I your top in the class, and I assured the old student of mine who works in the department that you would use them responsibly. Understood?"

With polite, "Yes, Sirs," from both of us, he sent us off towards the common room. While we walked I observed Evelina. She was small. I hadn't yet had my growth spurt, so I was pretty short, but she was tiny, even compared to me. She was also thin to the point of looking frail. Though the way she carried herself said that she was anything but frail; her back was straight, her chin tilted up slightly and she had a way of walking that made her seem at once graceful, and commanding. She twirled her wand in her hand as she walked which added to the casual authority. Her hands were tiny and delicate. Her fingers were small compared to anyone else's, but they were long for her hand. Her face was rounded with a pointed chin giving it a heart shape, and was framed with some of the most unusually colored hair I had ever seen. The majority of it was a reddish brown that was dark brown at the roots and lightened to a light brown at the ends, but it had natural blond streaks throughout it. Not a normal color of blonde either, but a silvery blonde. The multiple colors seemed to change in the different lightings, when she was in the shadows it was a brown with luminescent blonde strands, and when in the light from the torches it was a deep auburn color, and I was willing to bet that it would turn a different color in the light of the sun. The entire mass was very thick and came to her mid-back in half waves, half curls. She had it tied back with a black ribbon, except for the shorter bangs which framed her face. Her skin was pale, nearly translucent and stood in bright contrast to the dark pink lips that made up her small mouth. Her bottom lip was slightly thicker than her upper lip, giving her a permanent pout. Her nose was small, and sloped to a small point. And under severe looking eyebrows, were large, dark green eyes that seemed to absorb the light around them like black holes. I startled a little when I realized that those black holes were turned on me, and had been silently watching me observe her.

And then they changed. Her black hole eyes lightened, and appeared to be regurgitating all the light they had absorbed as they shone back at him with a quiet amusement before suddenly dimming as they turned serious. "I suppose we shall be seeing more of each other now that you will be accompanying me to my classes." She said in a quiet, melodious voice.

"Not that often." I contradicted, "We only need to see each other between classes, and then we can go our separate ways." I wasn't going to admit that I wanted to spend more time with her; I was curious as to how she escaped my notice for so long.

She stared at me with an almost disappointed look. "I don't know about you, but I intend to sleep this year. And if that means using the time turner to work in sleep time, I'll do it. You may join me if you wish."

Getting annoyed at being shown up, I defended, "You know that Slughorn said to only use them for classes."

She sighed before fixing me with an exasperated look, "Like you care about the rules, you're about as Slytherin as they come." And I thought I heard her mumble "in more ways than one" before she suddenly added, "Besides, it would be using it for classes, in an indirect sort of way."

"We'll figure it out during breakfast-" I started to say, but she interrupted, which something no one _ever_ did to me.

"You may figure it out during breakfast. I, on the other hand, do not eat with the other students and will meet you in the Entrance Hall before class." She turned to the wall, muttered the password, and left me standing in the middle of the corridor staring at the blank wall. Evelina was puzzling. I spoke the password and strode into the common room, intent on finding her only to find that she wasn't there at all. I walked over to the group of my 'friends' by the fire. They quickly moved so I could occupy my usual space, but I ignored it in favor of asking, "Did any of you see where Blackburn went?"

It was received with confused looks, not that they aren't always confused, so I specified my question, "Evelina Blackburn, she's a third year."

It was surprisingly Walburga Black, a fourth year, who answered, "Oh, _that girl_." She practically spat, "No, she shares a dorm with a friend of mine, but none of them ever see that annoying bitch." I wanted to correct her, "The most annoying bitch here is you" but she was from an affluent family, so I held my tongue. The rest of the Slytherins confirmed Walburga's statement of having never seen Evelina. It was as I expected; the girl was good at both avoiding attracting attention, and avoiding the attracted once attention was obtained. It peaked my curiosity, something no one else had managed. Little did I know that it was the beginnings of an obsession.

True to her word, after not attending breakfast she was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me to go to class. I walked over to her while silently laughing at everyone else. No one looked at her, but they all walked around her as if they subconsciously knew that someone was there who did not want to be touched. I smiled lightly as I approached. "Shall we?"

She nodded and we went to class. The Time Turner went smoothly, in fact, the entire morning did, until after lunch. I had just met Evelina near the stairs when the rest of the Slytherins caught up. It was obvious that very few recognized her, but it was Walburga, of course, who opened her mouth. Glaring at Evelina, who stared back with unblinking indifference, Walburga said to me, "What are you doing with _her_?" Her second cousin Orion Black, who had just begun his first year, asked the much more practical and much less rude question, "Who is she?" He had a light blush across his face; whether that was from speaking to me, his cousin's rudeness, or said cousin's death glare was uncertain.

I answered him, "Evelina Blackburn" before turning to Walburga and saying, "And you have no right to demand anything of me. Who I chose to spend my time with is my business." I turned towards Evelina and in a reproduction of the morning said, "Shall we?" She answered with a smirk, "We shall."

She was right; we did end up using the time turner to sleep.

That was our basic routine for the first months of school. What I did not add was that throughout those months I watched Evelina, tried to get close to Evelina, tried to figure out Evelina, and searched for more information on Salazar Slytherin, to which I found out about his 'mythical' Chamber of Secrets. I had better luck searching for a mythical chamber than I did with figuring out Evelina. I tried being charming, which didn't work, sarcastic, also a failure even if she found it amusing, demanding, to which she just became angry, and every other technique. It was like she knew what I was planning; she was powerful, and a mystery, both attributes that attracted my attention. I wanted to know her because I liked figuring out puzzles, but also because I wanted to 'recruit' her for her power. She was my obsession.

I often found myself wondering why I was so obsessed with her; I would tell myself that she wasn't anyone special; she didn't even have a pure blood name. Even after telling myself this, I still found myself trying figure out her secrets. And that was how I answered my question; I was enamored by her mystery, her intelligence, her beauty, her sarcastic nature, everything. She had captured my attention, not only because she was powerful, but because she was what other people were not. Everyone else was boring. She was interesting. That was when I changed my tactic completely, to one that I had never used and never intended to use; I began to open myself up.

We were doing homework late at night in mid-November when I began telling her a bit about my life; how all I knew of my father (which was only his name, the possibility of him being a muggle, and that I didn't know whether he was alive), and how my mother died and left me to be raised at the orphanage. Evelina just sat and watched me, it was . . . refreshing to have someone listen without judging, especially when I revealed my half blood nature. I did not tell her much about the orphanage, and I told her nothing of my research about the Chamber of Secrets. At the end she looked at me before saying in her quietly in her mellifluous voice, "I will not join your gang. I follow no one."

At that I smiled, a real smile. "I don't expect you to." And somehow, I meant it. I didn't _want_ her joining, I didn't want her submitting herself to another's control the way my followers did, because if she did, she would be just like them, she would be boring. I didn't want her boring; I wanted her to remain my interesting mystery. At that moment, I was just happy she was responding in a manner that wasn't hostile.

Evelina was a lot less antagonistic after that episode and we were able to hold multiple pleasant conversations, which usually turned into debated about wizarding supremacy. I will admit that her argument against it was the most logical; I believe it was in our fourth year that I finally gave in and promised not to act on my desire to have wizards take over the muggle world, but I will get to that later. The point was that Evelina and I got on well after I told her about myself. It's the way she works; she was not about to give something without getting something in return. In this case, I wanted to know her history, understand they way her mind worked (not that anyone ever could) and to have her friendship. What I failed to realize during the first couple months of school was that if I wanted those things, I would have to give them to her in return.

My friendship with her caused quite a stir amongst my followers. Many of them were, and still are, jealous people. Evelina and I quickly realized that it had become dangerous for her to travel alone after she ended up in the hospital wing for the third time due to an attack. It wasn't hard to adjust our after class schedules to match; because of the Time Turners we were already spending the majority of our time in each other's company.

Though she was friendlier, Evelina was not very forthcoming about her past until the winter holiday. Both of us were the only Slytherins staying at Hogwarts. It was December 30, the day before my birthday, when a rather severe looking Great Horned Owl flew into the Great Hall during dinner (an unusual time for owl post) and landed in front of Evelina before moving itself to her shoulder after she had removed the letter and newspaper. She quickly scanned the letter, all the while a strange facial expression to hold of her features; it was a combination of shock, horror and extreme sadness. Folding the letter and grabbing the paper, she jumped up from the table and practically ran from the hall with the bird still sitting on her shoulder.

I gave up looking for her after an hour deciding that if she wanted she could find me. She did.

I was laying in bed staring at the canopy when I heard the door squeak open, and small feet pad against the floor. I had gripped my wand, ready to defend myself when I heard her soft voice. "Tom?" Was the sweetly whispered word.

"Yeah?" I breathed.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

The question startled me, but I answered, "Sure."

Suddenly the curtains parted and the bed dipped slightly as a small figure slid under the covers. We lay in silence for awhile until she began speaking in a hollow voice that worried me.

"I'm a half blood." I thought it was a strange way to begin the conversation, but I said nothing and waited for her to continue. "My mother came from a pure blood family. My father is a muggle. She was smart enough to remove money from her family's vault into her own personal vault before she married him. It was a good idea seeing as she was disowned as soon as she did. Unfortunately, she did not tell my father that she was a witch until after they were married. He doesn't like magic much, and banned her from using it; a wish to which she complied. I'll never understand how she could do that. But anyways, I was born. My mother was a wonderful woman, very loving and kind, supportive in all the right ways. My father on the other hand is . . . cold at best, cruel at worst. My mother never told me about the wizarding world, not until I received my letter. That was the first thing my mother ever contradicted my father over. When I got the letter, he refused to let me go. My mother convinced him, or more like said I would be going whether he wanted me to or not. Eventually he decided to simply ignore the fact that I was going to a magic school, preferring to treat me as he normally did, with cool indifference as long as I did not mention magic around him. My mother brought me to Diagon Alley, but refused to enter. Instead she gave me the key to her vault at Gringott's and told me to get money from there and to buy my school things. She showed me how to call the Knight Bus so that I could get home once I was done." She paused slightly before continuing. "I saw you in the book store. I take it you read the books. But anyways, I don't particularly like most people, and I _hate _noise. That's why I hide from the other students. That's why this holiday is the only time I have eaten in the Great Hall, besides the welcoming feasts. It's quite because no one is there. You see, I didn't grow up around people. The only ones I ever saw were my mother; she tutored me so I did not go to school. The maid I saw frequently, and I occasionally saw my father. The only times I was ever exposed to people was if my mother would take me out, or my father would bring us on some business dinner. After spending so long with so little noise, you can't get used to it."

We sat in silence for awhile. Then I heard her take a shaky breath; she was on the verge of tears, I could tell. She suddenly pulled out her wand and muttered "Lumos" and light appeared. Her beautiful green eyes reflected the light, looking like stars. I could see the tears were there, prepared to fall from those red-rimmed eyes. Distracting me from my contemplation, she pushed a newspaper into my hands. I looked down at the article.

BOMBING CONTINUES

CITY OF LONDON IN RUINS

It continued on to say something about the recent bombings, and the death toll. I was a little confused, "I thought you lived in Canterbury."

She took the paper back and tossed it onto the night stand. "I do. But . . . My father sent a letter today with my owl. I got him for my mother so she could write me frequently. But, the letter said that the owl is to stay with me now because . . . because my mother was in London. She's. She's dead."

The crystal tears began to fall in earnest.

I whispered, "Oh, Lina," And held her close as she cried on my shoulder until she fell asleep. I followed soon after; drifting off to the sound of her shallow breathing.

As horrible as it was, that was the turning point in our friendship. After that we were much closer. Eventually third year ended. Evelina went back to her father's house, and I returned to the orphanage.

Our fourth year was rather dull in comparison. We were different though, in appearances at least. I had finally had a growth spurt which had added some much need height, making me tall for my age. Lina had changed as well, though she was still short, she came back from summer with curves, changing her look from that of a cute girl to that of a gorgeous young woman. It took a lot of self control to keep from kissing her when she came and hugged me on the platform. I just gave myself a mental head shake and brushed it off as teenage hormones. I was almost fifteen after all, and so was she. Still, with her curves, eyes, and hair that flashed different colors in different light (though at the time the sun was bringing out the red base, making both the brown and blonde turn into a mass of reddish gold) I could not deny that she was the most attractive person, of both sexes, that I had ever met.

During the months before the Winter Holiday, my worst problem was my growing attraction to my best and only friend. Though we were still balancing our ridiculous schedules, and I was still involved with my followers; I still had plans for the wizarding world. Then winter holiday arrived, and Headmaster Dippet agreed with the Head girl that a Yule Ball would be a splendid idea. This idea increased the amount remaining at Hogwarts dramatically. Multiple people asked to go with me, but none of them met my standards, they were all boring. In the end, I went with the only person guaranteed never to bore me. I asked Evelina. It was rather funny how it happened. We were in the middle of the library having a debate about whether it was possible to create a paradox by messing up time using the Time Turner when I suddenly threw into the argument, "Lina, would you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Without even the slightest pause in our debate she said, "Yes, I will. As I was saying, I don't think that it is theoretically possible to create a paradox because technically anything you do has already occurred so . . ."

And just like that I had a date to the ball, and she won the argument, again.

The Yule Ball was entertaining. I know that, despite the noise, Lina enjoyed herself. I think that was when we actually started dating.

The only other event worth mentioning from my forth year is when she managed to extract a promise, one that I ended up breaking. Lina had found out about my attempts to find the Chamber of Secrets, and I was close, I could feel it. The Chamber is said to house a monster. This sparked another argument on the issue of wizarding supremacy and letting monsters lose in the school. Lina, as always, won the argument. I promised that day that I would not act on my desire to have wizards take over and rule the muggle world. I promised that, when, not if, I got into politics, I would use my power for the betterment of the wizarding world.

I have broken my promise.

When we came back during fifth year, I was made a Prefect. Just another thing to add to my already overcrowded schedule. I was now balancing taking every class via Time Turner, with homework, Lina (not that hard seeing as she was also using a Time Turner for classes), my followers so that when I did gain political influence I would have a backing, studying for OWLs, and now Prefect duties. I think I handled it all well, considering. But when I sat on the train waiting for Lina, I couldn't help but dread my fifth year. Then Lina came, she seemed rather depressed. Sitting down next to me she sighed then said, "My father was killed and home destroyed when Canterbury was bombed."

The announcement lacked any emotion aside from tiredness, but she had not been close to her father. "Where did you live?"

"Leaky Cauldron."

Fifth year was a year of revelations.

Winter holiday had become a bit of a tradition for us. The first one we spent together we became friends, the second we started dating, the third we became lovers. To this day it was the best night of my life, and I never took another lover.

I'm sure multiple people wonder why I would believe the prophecy about a child that could be my downfall when I seemed, and had assured that I would be, immortal. It is because I have seen the power of Divination. Most of the time it is guesswork that is inaccurate because of interpretation, but occasionally it has merit.

Near the end of the fifth year, while we were in Divination, we were covering tea leaves . . . again. The teacher was a bit batty. I looked into Lina's cup first.

"There is a skull, a club . . . and. The grim!?" She took the cup back from my to look herself. She mumbled to herself, "Danger, an attack. Hmmm. And death." She then looked up at me with a smile, wiggled her eyebrows and said, "Perhaps I should think about writing a will." It was said in a playful manner, but I could tell she wasn't joking. I myself never put stock in Divination, but Lina was more talented at it than I was. If she thought it was something to consider, I wouldn't argue with her. Even if I wanted nothing more than to scream that she couldn't die yet, she couldn't leave me.

I was brought from my thoughts by Lina's voice, "The acorn of unexpected gold." She was gazing into my cup when her eyes lost focus, and she said in an unnaturally dazed voice, "The cross you bear shall end when the grim comes bearing the falcon. For good or ill, the cross you bear shall fall."

She shook her head a bit and continued on as if nothing had happened, though I know I was staring at her with wide eyes, especially after what she said next, "Yes, you have an acorn. A cross and a grim with a falcon. Hmm. So apparently, you will get unexpected gold, have lots of trials, suffer a lot, and then you will die by the hands of a great enemy." She playfully added, "Perhaps you should think about writing a will as well." I'm pretty sure I just sat in shock. Not only had Lina made a Prophecy while in an unaware state, she had confirmed it once she had come to. But again, I just brushed it off. Now I wish I had paid more mind to Divination.

We took our OWLs and left Hogwarts once again. I went back to the orphanage, and Lina took up residence at the Leaky Cauldron. I made sure to visit as often as I could, which wasn't often. It was near the end of summer when _it_ happened. I'm not sure what she was doing out in muggle London, especially that late in the evening. Dumbledore believed that I hated muggles because of my father and my stay at the orphanage, he is wrong. _This_ is why I hate muggles. My Lina was attacked and killed by a muggle, just two weeks before our sixth year, her prediction had come true. I am unsure who found her body; everything from that time is rather confused now. There was a small notice in the Daily Prophet. Her name was included in a list of the dead. Most of them were from the wizarding war with Grindelwald. I wouldn't have known that she was killed by muggles if I had not gotten a letter from Gringrott's. She had apparently made that will, because in the envelope along with the letter telling me that Lina was dead at the hands of a muggle leaving had left her account to me, was the key to her vault.

That was the day my world ended. I would also count that as the day that Lord Voldemort was born, dooming the wizarding world to two more wars and years of darkness, because after her death I truly hated. I hated muggles for killing off what she loved with their weapons, and eventually her. I hated the wizarding world for not caring more that she was gone, they didn't even mention her disappearance at school, and she was just one of many.

I found the Chamber at the beginning of my sixth year, and began setting the basilisk on my fellow students as punishment. I left Hogwarts for winter break, turned seventeen, and killed my father and grandparents. When I returned I began making Horcruxes, and continued to set the basilisk on students until one died and they threatened to close the school. I graduated at the end of my seventh year and began working towards my reign of terror.

She was right about my future as well. I did come into unexpected (and unwanted) gold. I have had trials and suffering, and I am now less than a second away from dying at the hands of my great enemy. Because that is my killing curse coming towards me, and my greatest enemy has always been myself.

I never thought that death would be the second greatest thing to happen to me, the first being my Lina. I have been afraid of death ever since I went insane, because that's what happened once she died. Now I can only smile tightly, which I'm sure all but Harry thinks is a grimace, as I am struck by my own curse, and all I can think is reminiscent of what Harry thought while I possessed him, "And I'll be back with my light, my life, my Lina."

* * *

Timeline (I included this because I needed it to write (all the dates got confusing), so I can't even begin to imagine how confusing it is to read)

**December 31, 1926** – Tom Riddle Jr. was born

**January 21, 1927** – Evelina Blackburn was born

**December 31, 1937** – Tom turned 11

**September 1, 1938** – 1st year began

**1940** – 3rd year begins; December 29 – Evelina's mother is killed by the bombing of the City of London; Tom turns 14

**June 1, 1942** – Evelina's father is killed and home destroyed in the bombing of Canterbury; September 1 – 5th year begins

**1943** – Evelina is murdered by a muggle just before 6th year begins; Tom opens the Chamber of Secrets, turns 17, kills his father during break, and the basilisk kills Myrtle

**1945** – Tom graduates

**July 31, 1980** – Harry is born

**October 31, 1981** – Voldemort attacks the Potters, etc. (you know what happens)

**1991** – Harry's 1st year

**1998** – Harry kills Voldemort

**A/N: **A history lesson!! In case you did not know, both of the bombings that killed Evelina's family actually happened during World War II. The bombing of the City of London was part of the Blitz which took place between September 7, 1940 and May 10, 1941. During the particular attack I chose, the City of London (small area within greater London, historical core of London) was targeted, the bombing ended up causing a firestorm (a real term actually, in short, fires big enough to create their own wind system). The second bombing I chose was that of Canterbury which was bombed with . . . if I remember correctly 10,000+ bombs during 135 (or something similar) different raids. I chose the one that occurred on June 1, 1942 which was during the Baedeker Blitz. Sorry, that was my history rant (can't help that I like history) most of this is coming from my own memory; I know that the dates are accurate, but the exact figures might be different. If you wish to know more . . . research them yourself. It would probably be a good change of pace after having read my annoyingly long Fic/Authors Notes/Rants. (HEHEHE)

**A/N2: **Ok. Wow. Um…I only have three things to say. One, I don't know when the Knight Bus started so just assume that it was running in 1938. Two, I decided that Tom would go kill his father during the Winter Holiday, making his father the first person he kills. Just a random decision on my part, but I thought it was fitting. And thirdly, I have not abandoned my other fic _Irrefutable Retribution_ even though I haven't updated it in a couple of days. The next update is taking a little longer because I need to organize my ideas for the rest of the plot, see what I am going to include in what chapters, and actually figure out how to write the next one. It may take a week or two to finish, but take heart! I shall not abandon my brain child. I love it too much. Anyways, another reason why I have not updated _Irrefutable Retribution_ is because I could not think about that plot while this brain child was screaming to be written. So I took a break from _IR_ to write this.


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